danny eslick

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 5) — The Vance and Hines XR1200 class is barely more than a year old but the gang from GEICO Racing already has it figured out as team rider and points leader Chris Fillmore won Sunday’s race in the Subway SuperBike Doubleheader at Road America. Fillmore was followed closely by reigning class champion and teammate Danny Eslick, who yielded the lead to Fillmore with two turns left.

“It’s very satisfying, for sure,” said Fillmore, who edged Eslick at the stripe by .126 seconds for his second win of the year. “It was a pretty wild race. I got a good start and settled in with that front group. I’m not even sure how many of us there were up there. We all kind of passed the lead around and it was fun riding.

“About halfway through I went off the track at Turn 5 and by the time I got back out I was back to eighth or so. I just had to put my head down from there and play catch-up.

“At the end no one really wanted to take the lead because you wanted to ride the draft up the hill to the finish line but when Danny lifted up I had to just go. I think maybe I surprised him a little going by so fast but we got around that last turn and it was on all the way to the finish line. I was able to stay out front and that was important.”

As is the norm in the class, no single rider controlled the action. Instead, a breakaway group of eight pros battled throughout the seven-lap contest around the 4.1-mile course. Both Fillmore and Eslick led the race at various points, with each rider picking their favorite spots to pass, and it wasn’t unusual to see riders leapfrog three or four competitors in one motion.

“This class is turning out exactly how we had hoped,” creator and sponsor Terry Vance said. “The action is incredible every race. That’s why the fans are responding to it so favorably. I know that as more people get to know about this style of racing and the fans see it in person or on TV, it’s going to sky-rocket.”

Eslick certainly had fun, riding the freight-train draft to perfection time and again, seemingly passing at will. But the nature of the spec class is that everyone competes on the same equipment so it’s nearly impossible for a single rider to pull away.

“I could sling-shot around people in certain spots and I knew I needed to do that coming onto the final straightaway,” Eslick said. “Fillmore slipped by with a few turns left and I was planning to ride right behind him and then pull out and drag race to the finish line but he tucked in and got far enough away to take the win.

“I’m happy for Chris because he’s riding for the championship. The points are important to him and to the entire GEICO/Bruce Rossmeyer/Lucas Oil race team.”

Team riders Kyle Wyman and Michael Corbino rounded out the top 10, securing ninth and 10th place.

Up next is the Barber SuperBike Classic, which runs June 17-19 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.

SALT LAKE CITY (May 30) — Memorial Day was certainly memorable for the GEICO/RMR Harley team in the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series as all four team riders finished in the top 10, including two on the podium.

Defending class champion Danny Eslick, who decided to race in the Harley-only category late last week, topped the charts with a strong second-place finish. Teammate Chris Fillmore was close behind in third, while Kyle Wyman and Michael Corbino finished eighth and 10th, respectively.

“It was cool to get out there and battle those guys on the Harley’s again,” said Eslick, who started seventh but was up to second place by Lap 4. “I just didn’t have enough for Steve Rapp up front but I’ll take a runner-up finish. I’m okay with that.” Eslick, who competes full time in the Daytona Sportbike class, only rode his XR1200 Harley one time prior to Monday’s race but he looked like a seasoned veteran in the saddle.

“Once I got comfortable I started picking guys up and was up in the top three pretty quick,” Eslick said. “I had a pretty good battle with my teammate Chris Filmore for the second half of the race. That was
fun. Then a few more guys got in there with us for a little while. There are a lot more competitive riders in the class this year and it makes it more exciting for the fans and a lot more fun for the riders.”

Fillmore, who won the last XR1200 event a few weeks ago in Northern California, started on the front row thanks to a strong qualifying effort.

“It was pretty interesting at the start,” Fillmore said. “As we were lining up it started to hail so that was interesting. I don’t think it really affected the track at all but it did mess with everyone a
little bit. We’ve dealt with so much weather this weekend I’m just glad it’s over.”

Fillmore stayed up front the entire race and even battled for the lead early in the race with eventual winner Steve Rapp, but just didn’t have enough to battle with him or Eslick in the final laps.

“Being on the podium is good,” FIlmore said. “The race was good. I did some back and forth for the lead the first half of the race, which was great, but I couldn’t hold on to the lead.

“(Rapp) got around me and then Danny and I started battling for secondhan we just couldn’t get in his draft. He built up a bit of a gap and at that point Danny and I were by ourselves, just battling it out for
second place.

“I overshot Turn 5 and Danny was able to get around me. At that point there wasn’t enough track left to catch him. I’ll take the third though. We’re up on the podium and it still gives me some points in
the championship hunt.”

Further back in the pack were Wyman and Corbino.

“I got off to a decent start considering my qualifying position,”Wyman said of his slotting in the No. 11 spot. “I was up in the middle of the pack and battling it out with some of the guys and felt pretty
good about my Harley. Then I was able to make a few moves and finish eighth. Definitely not a bad day.”

Rain had been a factor all weekend for the XR1200 riders so heading into Monday they were expecting more wet conditions but that didn’t end up being the case. The track was mostly dry except in one turn where Corbino had some trouble.

“The start went well,” Corbino said. “I was on a good pace and was in the middle of the pack from the beginning until I had a bit of a mishap in the only turn where there was rain. I ended up on the paint
and that’s not where you want to be.

“Luckily I kept it on two wheels and was able to refocus and finish the race. I just wanted to take her home safely and I did that. I’m happy with a top-10 finish. It’s good for points and for the whole
GEICO XR1200 team.”

The next stop for the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series will be June 5 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

SALT LAKE CITY (May 28) — GEICO/RMR rider Danny Eslick battled cold and wet Utah weather during the first day of professional qualifying for the Big M Weekend at Miller Motorsports Park. Eslick spent time on both his Daytona Sportbike Suzuki and his XR1200 Harley Saturday and was happy to get twice as much track time as usual.

“I like riding both bikes,” Eslick said. “It’s nice to be able to get out there and compete in more than one class. The extra data we gain is valuable.”

The 2009 Daytona Sportbike champion ran well during the morning practice laps and sat second heading into the opening qualifier of the weekend. Although he slowed to seventh in that round, Eslick feels confident heading into raceday.

“This morning started off well,” Eslick said. “We did what we planned by riding some of the momentum from last race here into practice but in qualifying everyone picked up the pace a little bit and we slipped back. We’re seventh but it’s so close in those top spots it’s not a huge deal.

“Plus, putting in one fast lap is one thing but putting in 16 is under race conditions is another story. We’re starting in the second row and that’s not too bad for here because there are so many opportunities to pass on this track.”

The reigning champ in the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series faced a very similar fate in the XR1200 class. He was the second quickest behind teammate Chris Filmore in the first practice session but rain and a slippery track caused Eslick to fall to seventh place in qualifying. The Harley is fun,” Eslick said. “I’m happy to be back on it. I wish we could have gotten up there and done a bit better but the conditions weren’t there and I didn’t want to do anything stupid.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow. The weather isn’t looking good so we probably won’t improve on our qualifying spot but we should be able to get a solid wet weather tune-up.

“It is cool here because they let us run in the rain. It’s one of the few tracks left where we are able to run in these conditions. Hopefully we’ll find a good wet setup and I’ll feel comfortable for the main events.”

The final qualifying session for Daytona Sportbike will be 8:40 a.m. MDT Sunday followed by the race at 4:10 p.m. MDT. Final qualifying for the XR1200 Series will be at 4:45 p.m.